The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-12-22
BREECH-LOADING MORTARS.
Their superiority over Muzzle- Load
ers In Range and Accuracy.

Their superiority over MuZZle- Iond'
ers In Range and Accuracy.
A Washington letter says; The trials thu
far made at Sandy Hook with the new l3-inch
brecch-loadlng mortar have been satisfactory,
and indicate It's superiority over the lnuzzlc
loader of the same caliher in range aud ne
curacy as well as In other desirable qualities. Al
an elevation of IL degrees, the shell, weighing
265 pounds, was propelled by charge OF sixty
five pounds distance of more than five miles,
the initial velocity being l,O3i feet aud the
pressure 100 pounds.
1.-The high importance attached To these
heavy mortars for coast defence Is Indicated
in the annual report of Gen. Duane, chiei OF
engineers, who points ont that all the prepare
tions in which they form part can be carried
on at once leaving the disputed question OF
kind of armor required for land defenscs for
leIsurely consideration
Nineteenth of the armament recommended
for our seacoasis is not 10 he mounted behind
iron projections, but in the rear OF earthen
covers, surrounding and shielding the mason
nv, magazines, b0mb-proOis, aud storeroons
Partilary Is this true OF the riilcd morlars,
which must hereafter play an important part
in the defense Of our channels and fair ways
aud there is no reason why the erection Of the
batteries required for them should be delayed
for q single month";
The reliance upon the l2-inch mcrtars is
also indicated by the report Of the forllllca-
tiOns board, which proposed for New York
alone IA Of them, for San rancisco, rs; for
Boston. l39; for the lake ports, "A; for Hamp.
top roads, Baltimore, and Phladeplia III
each: for Portland and NnrragansCtt bay, ~
each, for Key West and Portland, Ore, ~
each for Charleston, Mobile, savannah, Gal
weston, and New Bedford, 10 each; for New
| Haven, s. Here is total OF ~ ot the l2-lnch
mortars to be provided, with their impacc.
ments. There would accordingly be plenty %
| work for years TO come In furnishing these bat
teries alone, without regard TO the heavy gun
! needed. The cost Of the mortar mplaccmcnu
is shown by the estimates Of 81, 900 each lnnd'
for those required at Peach Patch island
Philadelphia
! A board of engineers which estimated thu
! cost of the Pinch mortars and implaccmrnA
! for New York, Philadelphia, Boston, aud BAL
| iimore, about three years ago found 1t to b
| $4,000 for each mortar and implacement
| making an aggregate Of Si,692, OW Tor ID
! four ports. This estimate gave the Narrow
! 96 mOrtars and the East river dclenscs 49, VIII
| IL each for Philadelphia aud Baltimore, as II
the calculations of The Notifications board,
/ but assigned only 100 to Boston, instead OF
! l32. Ia round numbers, the full mortar pro-
! lection of these four ports would cost about
! 81, 900 600 while the entire mOrtarba ttery de-
lenses for the Atlantic, the Pacific, the gull,
| and the lakes would he little over Sl2,OOO,-
900. Thus IT will he seen how great part of
| the total expenditures contemplated is taken
| up with this mode Of defense alone. II is
| further to he noted that In each case the NOR
| tar suggested is of the l2.nch calibcr or In
! other words, the one now under test at Sandy
| Hook Hence, these current trials possess Il
/ great degree Of importance, and II is further
| evident that in order to carry out this portion
! of the proposed plan of seacOast defense, con
! gfcss would have little more to do than to
make the required appropriations since 1t is
/ already demonstrated that the mOrlars rcqUir-
1 ed have been produced
OF course mortars will not alone he suilic-
| lent for coast and harbor defense. They can
not deliver tho fire with the same range and
accuracy as the long gun OF the same CALDER
tia, fires horizontally. But they cost much
less than the high power steel gun, aud pos
scss certain advantages in the matter OF less
/ observation Of the sight by smoke, while II is
S)Ossbe TO so plot out channels IN thoroughly
| surveyed harbOrs as 10 drop u shell from u
| rifle mortar with good degree OF accuracy
upon an attacking squadron For long time
our country used only mlIzzlc loading NOR
tars like the English, while the Germans,
French, Austrians aud other nations had
adopted rifle mortars, which allow heavier
proiectiles, delivered with greater accuracy,
and at q longer distance. Now. however that
the first Of the new twelve nee hrccch leaders
has had its preliminary tests prior to its
range trials proper, which Will be carried on
from time TO time during ;he remainder OF
the year, our service NAV he considered as
being placed on "A par, in this respect with
the most advanced nations. The range of
q3S5 yards, reached In The preliminary
rounds Is thought to be creditablc aud good
results are expected from the endurance anl
accuracy trial.